Sawangwongse Yawnghwe's Paintings on Myanmar at Fondazione Ragghianti in Lucca

Fondazione Ragghianti in Lucca presents a solo exhibition of Sawangwongse Yawnghwe (born 1971, Shan State), featuring around sixty works including paintings and graphics. The artist, grandson of Sao Shwe Thaik—first president of independent Myanmar, deposed and assassinated after the 1962 military coup—has lived in exile for about forty years across Thailand, Canada, and the Netherlands. His work addresses Myanmar's social and political situation through learned symbolism, avoiding sensationalism, and references Francisco Goya and Cornelius Baba. Goya's influence appears in graphic works described as an 'album of horrors' rendered metaphorically. Large-scale paintings employ dark palettes and an expressionist style reminiscent of Baba, a Romanian dissident. Subjects include Buddhist monks, Aung San Suu Kyi, torture of dissidents, and international economic interests. The exhibition also engages with Balzac's 'Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu' and Zola's 'L'Œuvre', exploring image versus reality and art versus life. The show aims to draw public attention to Myanmar's ongoing oppression, a country with a complex history including British colonial rule (1886-1937), Japanese WWII invasion, independence in 1948, and the 1962 coup that led to decades of military rule, civil wars in Karen, Kachin, and Shan regions, and a failed democratic transition after the 2016 coup. In Italy, coverage of Myanmar has been limited, with Tiziano Terzani's reports being a key source.